"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours."( Mark 11:25) The second aspect of Faith is the substance or surety (state of being sure or certain of something because someone has taken responsibility for the performance of an undertaking ) of things hoped for. Such a person who takes the responsibility is called the Guarantor. Having believed, we received the Holy Spirit in our hearts who is the Guarantor of things we hope for, our salvation and redemption. (Ephesians 1:14) In other words we have the substance of things hoped for revealed in us, the tangible (substantially real; capable of being precisely identified or realized) presence of the Holy Spirit abiding within us. That is why the Bible exhorts a believer to believe that he will receive whatever he asks for in prayer because he has got the guarantor abiding in him. 'This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask- we know that we have what we asked of him.' (1 John 5:14-15) God is pleased with those who excercise both these aspects of faith and he doesn't fail to take note of it! When the centurion said, "Just say a word and my servant will be healed", Jesus was astonished and said to those following him, "I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would."( Matthew 8:8-13) If this Gentile centurion could exercise his faith, how much more can a believer who has the guarantor abiding in him, exercise his faith? Amen.
Sam Matthews. K
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